The International Finance Corporation (IFC), World Bank’s financing arm for the private sector, on Wednesday, said it would raise $2.50 billion (about Rs.15,000 crore) from rupee-denominated bonds to support infrastructure development in India.
The IFC will use a combination of rupee-denominated bonds and swaps to raise local-currency financing of up to Rs.15,000 crore over the next five years, IFC Executive Vice President and CEO Jin-Yong Cai said here.
Speaking at the launch of the programme, Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram said: “It will also create a new momentum in the development of corporate bond market and long-term bond market. It will create a yield curve which can then be followed by others.”
He said the onshore bond programme marked another important milestone in the engagement between India and the IFC.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, he said, recently announced long-term bonds to be raised by banks to fund infrastructure.
“All of these together would provide lot of liquidity in an area where liquidity has been a problem,” Dr. Mayaram said.
He said it would help in developing pipeline of projects and give confidence to private sector.
Mr. Cai said the vibrant capital markets provided critical access to finance for the private sector.
The first tranche would be issued in the next few months, while subsequent tranches would be driven by project needs.
Asked about the coupon rate, Mr. Cai said it would be similar to government bonds.
